Insomniac's Dream
by Terra-Noir
Summary: Freddy's back and ready to take another stab at the kids on elm street. Can the kids find a way to defeat him or will they fall pray to the infamous dream stalker. OMG! CHAPTER 8'S UP! YAY!
1. Chapter 1

1.

For the third night in a row Rhys Durden couldn't sleep. All he could do was lounge around his room and listening to his stereo and doing . . . whatever. He laid his slender frame across his bed, letting his head hang off the edge of the bed and blaring _Evil (A Chorus of Resistance)_ on his headphones.

As he rested his burning eyes he began to think about Mr. Johnson, the twitchy realtor who sold his mother the house. He didn't like him. He gave a weird feeling and Rhys could've sworn that he was hitting on his mother. But that wasn't what he was thinking about. He was thinking about earlier that afternoon, when Mr. Johnson came over and shooed Rhys upstairs, but Rhys stayed at the top of the stairs just out of sight.

All he heard was whispering from Mr. Johnson, shocked gasps from his mother, and a name. He couldn't remember it. It was right on the tip of his tongue. What was that name?

"Krueger." He breathed as beads of sweat began rolled down his forehead. He opened his intense blue-green eyes to suddenly find his whole room quiet and dark. "I must've dozed off." He muttered quietly to himself, assuming that his mother had come in and turned off all his stuff.

He suddenly heard a noise. Someone was revving the engine of what sounded like a muscle car. Actually it sounded more like the growling of some strange beast. Rhys got up and walked over to window pulled out the curtains. His sleep strained eyes scanned the street and noticed a car cruising down Elm Street as fat snowflakes began to fall. It was slick and simple, the black paint shined and the glossy chrome glowed in the street light. If Cadillac made hotrod hearses, it'd look like this. Rhys' heart began to race and his stomach filled with a strange sense dread as the slowed to a stop in front of his house.

He swiftly grabbed his black aluminum bat and quietly crept through the hall, down the smooth carpeted stairs, and stared through curtain of the window on the door. A tall lean figure stepped out of the car. The brim of his fedora was pulled down low, hiding his face in shadows. The mans heavy trench coat swung inches above ground as his red and green sweater seemed to pop out against the harsh white of the snow.

As the man marched up the walkway the street lights shimmered off of something in his right hand. A knife perhaps. Rhys wiped the sweat from his brow and tightened his grip on the bat. The man was at the door. Rhys could feel the man's eyes burning into his own. The doorknob began to rattle.

With a white knuckle grip on his bat he inched toward the door, his heart hammered against his rib cage as he stared at the man in the window. He ripped open the door ready knock the stranger into last week, but no one was there. An icy chill blasted up his spine like a bullet as he peaked outside the door. The man and the hearse were gone.

"I need a good nights sleep." He sighed as his closed the front door and begged his heart to slow down. He leaned against the door and closed his eyes. He hoped his mind was just playing tricks on him. He hoped that they were simply delusions from lack of sleep and that he didn't need to take any more medication than he was already had been.

He opened his eyes and his heart leaped up into his throat. His house, the brand new house that he and his family were in, looked like it should've been condemned. Filthy faded rugs covered the floor, repulsive puke-yellow wallpaper clung to walls, tattered old toys were scattered across the ground, and the smell of burnt flesh invaded his lungs.

He dropped the bat, yanked open the door, only to have a burning hot hand clasped around his throat. "Ahhhhhhhhh!" Rhys choked as the man from before slowly raised him up off of the ground. In the flickering light of a nearby lamp revealed the man's face. It was a mass of red burn scars with a his lips curled into a cruel smile and his pale green eyes twinkling with sick joy at watching Rhys struggle for air.

The man slowly raised his hand. Rhys' eyes narrowed with fear. The man wore a glove with long dreadfully sharp blades emerging from each finger. Rhys didn't know what was going on but he wasn't going to die without a fight. He kicked the old man in the face causing the man to drop him the floor.

He stared up at the man whose head was still tilted backwards, his hat delicately falling to the floor. The man moved his head forward and stared at Rhys with the same wicked smile still carved onto his face. Rhys scrambled to his feet and ran into the living room with the man in hot pursuit.

The man grabbed a hand full of Rhys' straight dark brown hair as he ran. Rhys turned and tackled the man and punched the man over again until the man was able to grab Rhys' arm. He tried to ignore finger knives dug into his arm and the warm blood that gushed out of his wounds. With his free hand the man grabbed Rhys' throat and began to choke the life out of him. The man rolled him over pinning him down. Rhys kneed the man in the groin and pushed off of him. He ran back into the hallway. The front door was missing so he ran to the kitchen door but it'd been boarded shut. He quickly grabbed a rusted butcher knife from the grimy sink and turned just in time to see the standing a few feet away from him.

His deranged smile had been replaced by hate filled scowl and eyes were overflowing with fury. As he stomped toward Rhys, he dragged a long finger knife along the metal of one of the chairs. Rhys clutched the handle as he met the deranged stranger's eyes with equal fury. "You want me you sick bastard," Rhys said, not hiding the smirk that was spreading across his face. "Then just _try_ and take me."

They changed towards each other and without warning Rhys shot up in his bed, accidentally snatching his headphones from the plug and sending heavy metal exploding from the speakers and cutting through the silence. His eyes frantically searched his room. Then he looked himself over. The cuts were still on his arms, his sweat soaked tank top was bloody, and he was clutching the old, rusty butcher in his hand so hard that the handle cracked. He was broken from his initial shock when he heard a shrill scream over the loud music. He looked to see his mother in his doorway.

--

Aurthor's Note: Hoped you liked it! I only own the O.C's. Please R&R :D


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Rhys sat in the comfy chair slouched outside the doctor's office of Westin Hills Mental Institution in a haze. The nurses had given him some drugs to calm him down and put him to sleep while they stitched his arm up. But Rhys knew better and managed to spit most of the pills out. His eyes burned as he sat under the bright florescent lights.

"No sleep." He muttered as he began to fidget, bouncing his foot up and down. "No sleep, no meds." He bit at nails, which were already nubs. He hated pills, seeing as he had three different prescriptions already. Rhys really didn't want to add a forth one. He couldn't sleep anyway. That nightmare was too real.

Too real. He knew those gashes on his arm weren't self inflicted, weren't some delusional suicide attempt during a blackout. That man, the man in the dream was real, he just knew. The nurses and doctors knew it too.

When they were stitching up his arm back at the E.R. of Springwood General, before the doctor sent them to Westin, Rhys started telling his mom his dream and they all stopped and stared, even the male nurse walking an old man in the hallway stopped to stare. Not in the Your-Just-Being-Delusional way, but in the This-Is-Bad way. Fred Krueger was real and Rhys was gonna find out who he was. He pulled out his cell phone and called up a friend.

"Hello?" Jenna answered, her husky Brooklyn accented voice sounded super awake even though it was six am.

"Hey Jenna, it's me." Rhys said rubbing his eyes.

"Oh what's up, Reese Cup." She asked.

Rhys choose to ignore the fact that she'd just called him "Reese Cup". "I need a favor. Actually, I need two."

"Go on."

"Pick up Mika on your way to school."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Alright, alright what's the second thing?"

Rhys leaned forward in his chair, looked around to see if anyone was in earshot, and when he was sure no one was he said, "Look up a person named 'Fred Krueger'." The cuts on his arm began to sting.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Please Jen just look for me. I'll buy you food." He bribed.

"Alright but none of that McDonalds crap. Your taking me to Applebee's!" She said in her sternest voice.

"Thanks Jen, you're a doll. Bye." He smiled and hung up. He leaned back in the chair, pushing his fingers into his eyes, and momentarily stopping the throbbing, achy feeling that they were sending through his head. "Coffee." He said. "Coffee is good. Coffee will keep me awake." He jumped up and headed off in the direction of the cafeteria.

He dug around in his pocket and pulled out five bucks, more than enough for coffee. He made it to the cafeteria and put his money in the coffee machine. As the machine poured his coffee he heard a soft voice. Someone was singing. Chanting really. Rhys began to follow the sound, letting his feet lead the way.

Left, Left, Right, Left. Deeper and deeper, further and further, until Rhys found himself lost in unfamiliar territory. He looked around. The walls were stark white, the floor looked liked a light gray and white checker board and the glaring, intense florescent lights made his eyes burn more. Patients were roamed the halls in a comatose, almost zombie like trance.

Rhys stuck out like a sore thumb among them. They wore plain white pajamas while he wore baggy black jeans, his red hoody with black and white skulls and crossbones on it, and his white tank top that still had bright red bloodstains on it. They gave him the chills. They all hummed the same haunting tune and they all looked so strange.

One patient, a tall pale guy had a black and purple bruise that went all the way around his neck, the kind you'd see on a person who'd been hung. And Rhys had brushed up against a small black girl that wore large thick glasses; she looked like a walking mummy and her clothes hung of her bony body. Another thing that he'd noticed was that they all had bags under their eyes, like they hadn't slept in years.

"One, Two Freddy's coming for you." Rhys stopped dead in tracks and turned to find that he was staring at the door to a padded cell.

"Three, Four Better lock your door. Five, Six grab your crucifix." He looked through the small window on the door and saw girl with long wave mouse brown hair with a streak of gray in it, huddled up in the corner. Her big blue eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Seven, Eight Gonna stay up late." Her voice dropping down to a croaking whisper as her empty eyes focused on Rhys and bloody tears began to run down her porcelain white face. "Nine, Ten He's back again." Rhys nearly jumped out his skin when a hand suddenly clamped onto his shoulder. He whipped his head around to see his mother and Dr. Fretwell. Rhys had fallen asleep after talking to Jenna. "It's okay, baby it was just a dream." His mother said soothingly smoothing his hair back.

"So we meet again." The good doctor said with a slight smile on her thin glossy lips. "Doc." Rhys narrowed his eyes Dr. F, whom Rhys considered to be the pain in the neck. "Come in my office. We must talk about your new medication." She said leading him back to the office, ignoring the fact that his arm had yet again started bleeding.

--

Aurthor's Note: Thanks reading this far. Please R&R.


	3. Chapter 3

School Daze

3.

That afternoon Rhys sat in at his desk examining the cuts on his arm. They were deep and still fresh but had finally stopped bleeding and stitched it up pretty good. He replaced his bandages He drank down a whole cup of coffee and turned on his TV. He decided to an A & E documentary about a series of murders down in Texas committed by some inbred family. He laid back on his bed, pretending that his eyes didn't burn and that he wasn't fighting the urge to yawn. He blinked once, twice. His eyelids were so heavy.

The documentary was showing footage of the inside of the house when the cable suddenly cut off and the screen filled with static. Rhys got up and examined the TV. He tried to changed the channel but nothing happened. He could hear what sounded like screaming under the static. He smacked the side of the TV and jumped when the door burst open. It was Jenna.

Jenna's deep brown eyes burned into Rhys.

"Hey Jen."

"Don't 'hey Jen' me. Where were you today?" She asked. Her ponytail whipped back and forth when she talked and she was always pushing her bangs from her eyes. Jenna was very glamorous with a slight edge. She colored her hair quite often and usually wore something tight and stylish. She was wearing a black and red motorcycle jacket over a vintage ACDC t-shirt with tight designer dark wash jeans and fashionable black snow boots.

"The hospital." He said avoiding her eyes and looking behind the TV. The cable line had fallen out.

"Why?" He didn't need to see her face to hear the concern in her voice.

"I had a little accident." He answered, plug the cable line back in. The screaming he had heard under the static came from a horror movie he'd accidentally turned to.

"Let me see." He held out his arm for her to see. "It really was an accident. "The cuts are to high on the forearm to be a suicide attempt." He added as she gently ran her fingers over the thin bandage. Suddenly a spot of blood appeared and she quickly looked away.

"Um I got the info you wanted." She quickly changed the subject.  
"What'd you find?"

"Well the guy was a real psycho. He killed over a dozen kids in the 60's and died in a mysterious fire after he was acquitted." She said sitting on the end of Rhys' bed as Rhys leaned against his dresser. "But that's not where it around. There's been and urban myth going around saying that he haunted the dreams of teenagers and if he kills you in your dreams your dead for real and that he's connected to a bunch of unsolved murders and suicides. And a couple years ago there was this big hoax about him being real after a rash of murders but they were later found to be the work of some copycat of the Crystal Lake Killer."

Rhys stared down at the floor trying to stop his head from spinning. His heart was pounding and he his legs felt weak.

"Rhys? Rhys? Rhys?!"

"Huh?" He snapped out of his trance and looked over at Jenna whose eyes were wide with worry.

"Why'd you need this info anyway?"

"Research. I had to pick a random person from Springwoods history. The guy who sold us this place gave me the name." He hated lying to Jenna she was like a sister, but he didn't want to freak out or worst, think was a complete psycho.

"Well you might need a different subject cause that dudes like forbidden in the school." She said.

"What do you mean."

"Ok so I'm sitting there looking up the info when that old bitty Ms. McKinley ninjas her way behind me and looks at the web page I was on and the next thing I know I'm having a one on one with Vice Principal Fitzgerald for looking up 'Indecent material'."

"You don't say." Rhys hid his smile. Whenever ever she was angry she would become very animated and talk with her hands and her New York accent would become very noticeable. "What happen then?"

"She gave me a three day suspension." Then she looked at her watch. "Crap I better get home before mom does and get ready for lecture I'm gonna hear when I get home." She got up and headed for the door.

"Hey Jen." She stopped. "Let me know if you have any weird dreams. Ok?"

"Okay" She smiled. "Sweet dreams Reese Cup" She wiggled her fingers in a manner that reminded Rhys of Freddy.

"Yeah. Sweet dreams."

Aurthor Notes: Hoped you like chapter numero tres. Four is on it's way!


	4. Chapter 4

4

4.

The next day Rhys sat alone at fourth period lunch as usual. He only really had a few friends, Jenna, Shrimp, and Adrian who all had 6th period. He didn't mind being alone. He had a nice seat near the back window with his lunch and his mp3 player (which kept out the not so subtle whispers about him). He was off in his own little world, trying not to fall asleep (which he hadn't done since his second nightmare). He arranged his food in a certain way.

The doctors called it an OCD, but he just considered himself extremely organized. He tore his chicken burger in half then ate it, he ate his fries by twos (throw the last unpaired one away), then ate his chips by threes.

As he ate a small frizzy haired girl with black framed glasses joined him at the table. He'd seen her in all his morning classes but hadn't officially meet her. He took off his headphones. "Hi." She grinned. She had pink braces. "I'm new here just moved from-"

"Illinois." Rhys interrupted.

"Huh?"

"You moved here from somewhere in Illinois, right?"

"OMG!" She squealed. "How'd you know?"

"You're wearing an 'I heart Illinois' shirt." He smiled, which he hadn't genuinely did in all day.

"Oh" She giggled. "Duh right? Well any who, I'm Vylette Mane." She began to go into detail about how different it was being in Springwood. As she talked Rhys studied her. Her frizzy red curls were pulled into a lazy ponytails and she had large green eyes and freckles all over her chubby cheeks. She wore an oversized bright pink t shirt that hung off her left shoulder with black leggings and day glow green converse. Jenna would call Vylette's outfit and personality "beyond barf worthy", but Rhys found her boldness kinda cool and maybe even a little cute.

"And the it's so quiet here. OMG I'm such a ditz! I forgot to ask your name."

"It's Rhys Durden."

"Like Reese Cup?" he stared at her for a second then nodded. He reached into his bag and took out three of his medication bottles and took two pills from each bottle.

"Why do have so much medication?"

"Go ask Alice." He smirked. She gave him a confused look. "It's a song pun. You know Jefferson Airplane. White Rabbit…Never mind." He continued to take out the pills examining each one before sitting it on his tray. He got a strange chalky blue pill, it was chipped giving it a sharp, jagged looking edge.

Vylette leaned forward and examined the pill. "Wow that's one jagged little pill."

Rhys looked up at her.

"See I can make song puns too." She smiled wide. Rhys returned the smile and dry swallowed the pills two at a time.

"What are all those for?"

"Well I take Mylocorp for A.D.H.D, Philacera for Schizophrenia which just means I'm paranoid sometimes, and Disoprophin for my ASD." Rhys had no idea why he'd just told her. He had no idea why he didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable with her. He decided to blamed his blabbing on his lack of sleep.

She stared at him for what seemed like forever. He hoped he hadn't weirded her out or anything. "I'm lacteous intolerant." She said obviously trying to make Rhys feel better. They continued to talk until the bell rang. Rhys walked her to her English class then slowly made his way to P.E. And surprising all his worries about nightmares had been replaced with thoughts of Vylette.

Aurthor's Note: Ok thats the last update for a while. Please R&R. Oh and thanks for reading. :D


	5. Chapter 5

5.

"What's with you today?" Shrimp asked Rhys as they along with Adrian walk home. Shrimp was a tall skinny skater with dark blue hair and Adrian was tall and kinda chubby with curly black hair.

"What are you talking about?"

"You seem happy. I mean you started the day all twitchy and now you can't stop smiling."

"And haven't made one of your stupid puns." Adrian added as he hurled a snowball at the stop sign and missed.

"What can I say. I'm walking on sunshine."

"I take that back."

"I think it's the new meds. Their causing mood swings. He's having delusions quick how many fingers am I holding up." Shrimp said holding up his middle finger.

"I haven't gotten my new meds yet." Said as they reached his house.

"Why did you guys move three blocks down from your old house?" Adrian asked.

"Mom said it held to many memories of that douche bag Chuck." Rhys seethed at the thought of his mom's ex-fiancé.

They entered the kitchen to find Donna, Rhys' mom and Mr. Johnson, the realtor, laughing over coffee and the remnants of gourmet cupcakes.

"Hey sweetheart." His mother greeted. Rhys looked a lot like his mother. They were both tall and athletic with chocolate brown hair, the only difference between the two were their eyes. Donna had hazel brown eyes not blue green like her son.

"What's Mr. Johnson doing here?"

"Oh I invited Jacob over for coffee and cupcake." She smiled.

"Jacob?" Rhys glared at the man. Well boy in his eyes. He was barely Twenty and his mom was nearing Thirty-Eight years old. He had big blue eyes and black hair. He was athletic looking, like he played football.

"Hey there Rhys. How you been?" Jacob smiled extending his hand out to the younger man. Rhys looked Jacob up and down and mustered up a slight smile but didn't shake his hand.

"Nothin much. Hey ma me and the guys will be upstairs." He turned and headed up the stairs. The boys quickly headed up to Rhys' room. Rhys took off his hoody and flopped down on his bed while Shrimp and Adrian sat on the couch in the corner.

"Okay. I know I run the risk of being hit." Adrian said. "But your mom's hot dude." Shrimp hit Adrian in the arm.

"Dude!"

"What?"

"Not cool!" They began to argue, but Rhys hadn't heard a word of it. His eyes slightly burned and for once it wasn't from lack of sleep. He was keeping back tears. If his friends weren't there he would taken out the small black lunch box and taken out the picture of a man with a little boy on his shoulders. The boy was scrappy with messy brown hair and the man was tall and muscular with a blonde crew cut. But they had the same exact blue green eyes. It was the only picture that Rhys had of his father Ivan. His father died a few weeks after that in a car crash. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Dude. You okay man?" Rhys couldn't answer a huge lump had settled in his throat and his chest was about to explode. He just rolled over pulled his pillow over his head.

"Uh Shrimp. Maybe we should go." He heard Adrian say. And when he heard his bedroom door close, the tears began to flow easily. But Rhys didn't make a noise. He laid there until he heard the door open.

"Sweetheart." His mother's voice came out soft and sweet. He didn't move. She sat next to him on the bed and leaned over to hold him. "I know your awake. If you want to talk I'll be downstairs." She lifted the pillow and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm gonna leave your Hypnocil on your nightstand with a bottle of water." Then she got up and went to the kitchen and cried silently.

Rhys woke up with a start. He looked around the room expecting a nightmare, but he was awake. Then he remembered taking the Hypnocil and then no being able to keep his eyes open. He looked at his digital clock. It was eleven thirty. He made his way down the stairs to the kitchen to find his mom icing a cake. Even through her perfectly applied Cover girl make up he could tell she'd been crying.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah." He stood there letting his eyes adjust. "What're you doing?"

"Oh. I decided to do a little baking. It's your favorite, Devil's Food Cake." Rhys smiled at his mother, she always tried to fix things with baked goods. Suddenly the phone rang.

"I'll get it ma." He said heading for the living room. "Hello."

"Rhys?" Jenna said in a horse slightly panicked voice.

"Jen, what's wrong?"

She let out a horse half hearted laugh. "You won't believe the dream I had."

Author's Note: Yay I finished Ch. 5. I'll start working on 6 ASAP! Thatnk's for reading


	6. Chapter 6

6

6.

Rhys put on his hoody and raced over down the street to Jenna's house on the next block. She'd had a nightmare about Freddy. He ran to the side of Jenna's house and pounded on the basement window. Jenna pulled back her purple curtain, unlocked the window, and Rhys slid into her small bedroom which had been built in the basement to give her more privacy.

Her room hadn't changed since the seventh grade. It was pink and purple with stuffed animals and plush cushions over in the corner. Her blankets purple with pink hearts and magazine cuts outs of models and celebrities were plastered all over the walls.

Shrimp and Adrian were already there sitting on the cushions trying to stay up. They both lived on the same block as Jenna.

"So what was nightmare about?" Rhys asked. Jenna looked tired and her long and now blonde hair was tussled and messy like she just woke.

"Freddy." Adrian said. Rhys gave him a puzzled look. "Oh she filled us in on him just before you got here."

"Jen," Rhys said joining She sat on the edge of her bed tugging at the ends of her over size White sox t-shirt. "What was your dream?"

She began to shake and closed her eyes for several seconds the finally said began to relay her dream to them.

EARLIER THAT AFTERNOON

Jenna finished her straightening her newly blonde hair. It was still a soft chestnut brown at her roots but she'd touch them up later. She'd only dyed her hair to kill some time. She hadn't been able to sleep. Not since she'd talked to Rhys the day before. She examined herself in the mirror. Tilting her head at different angles, pouting her full lips, and 'smiling' with her eyes. She figures that she's watched enough of America's Next Top Model to make it. She strikes pose after pose and smiles.

Then her smile fades when her nagging insecurities begin to surface. She runs her fingers down the sides of her nose which was slightly crooked. Then down her hips, they were naturally wide and stayed that way no matter how much weight she lost. With defeated state of mind she walked across the cold basement floor to and plopped down on her pillows and turned on the over head lamp.

She began to flip through the latest Italian Vogue Magazine. Soon her eyes burned and head drooped. Then the minute someone grabbed her. She opened her eyes to find herself in a dressing room with a panicky looking P.A. pulling at her. As the P.A. pulled her out of the room she caught a glimpse of herself. She was wearing a red corset and black with a green lacey bottom, black fishnets, and red and green stripped hills. Her hair was into frizzed out and her eyes were dramatic black and red make up and black lipstick. She looked like a Goth ballerina.

"Come on F.K. hates waiting." The P.A. said dragging her down the hall and literally throwing her on set which was dark and hot and looked like a strange child's room. The photographer stood next to a blinding light which made it impossible to see. "Take your place over on the bed near Greta." F.K.'s voice boomed unexpectedly, making Jenna jump. She hurried over and took her place on the bed near Greta who sat on the floor.

Greta was wearing a black lacy baby doll dress with black arm warmers and heavy black combat boots. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a pigtails. Soon the shoot began.

"Make love to the camera, girls yeah." FK began shouting out directions. Jenna gave him pose after pose trying to ignore the tight corset.

"Give me innocent." Click! "Give me sexy." Click. "Give me trashy." Click. "Work it." Click. "That's right your naughty little sluts! Give it to me you filthy tramps."

"What?" Jenna snapped. "Who the hell do you think your talking?!"

FK chuckled "I like 'em feisty."

"Hey cool it will ya." Greta said as turned toward Jenna. Jenna gasped. Greta's face was smooth and white like china. All of her features, except her large blue eyes, look painted on and a large crack crept down her forehead. Jenna gasped again and found it hard to exhale. In fact she was finding it hard to breath.

The corset was getting tighter and tighter and the straps began to dig into her shoulder. She clawed at the garment frantically searching for a zipper. She began to hyperventilate. Then she felt herself getting light headed until finally she collapsed on to the bed as the corset continued to squeeze the out of her. She looked up and through a haze of tears saw a tall thin man.

"Aw. Can't hack it sweetheart?" The man cruelly asked. She wheezed and gasped as her body shook and tears steadily poured from her eyes. "Well let me help you out." Through her tears she saw the glint of four razor sharp knives raised in high in the air. And she barely mustered a squeak as they plunged into her chest.

"JENNAVECIA!!" Jenna shot up in her at the sound of her sister Carla voice. "JENNAVECIA, DINNERS READY!!"

"I'm not-I'M NOT HUNGRY!" Her voice came out horse and she was still struggling to breath.

"Maybe your just over reacting." Shrimp said breaking the long silence that had filled the air after Jenna had finished her story. He stood up. "It was just a dream."

"Well thank you for taking my near f'n death experience serious." She jumped up. "And by the way. Since when can normal dreams do this?" She pulled up her shirt revealing deep bruises and small cuts all over her abdomen. "I didn't do this to myself."

"Oh my god." Adrian choked from his seat in the corner. He wrapped his arms around his legs and began to rock back and forth. "He was right."

"What Adrian what's wrong?" Rhys rushed over to Adrian.

"He's was right. He wasn't crazy. He was right." Adrian repeated as his eyes began welling up with tears.

"Calm down!"

"Whose right?!"

"Who are you talking about."

"My brother." He finally sobbed. "He use to have nightmare. That – that someone was after him."

"Where's your brother now?" Rhys asked

Adrian looked up doe eyed and said : "Westin Hills."

Hope you like this chapter! Thanks for reading. Please Review.


	7. Chapter 7

7.

Rhys walked quietly back home. Adrian and Shrimp were spending the night with Jenna. He would've stayed but he wasn't really in the mood for Adrian's rants about his brother or Jenna's constant pacing. He made it to the door and rummaged through his pockets for his keys.

"OMG! RHYS!" A familiar voice shouted. Rhys nearly jumped out of his skin and whirled around. He saw Vylette in the window of the house across the street. His heart leaped and before he could stop himself he raced over to her house where she met him at the front door.

"What are you doing out so late?" Vylette asked. It took Rhys a second to answer because as soon as she opened the door he realized that not only was it really cold but also that she didn't have a bra on under her purple Princess Starshine band tank top.

"Um. Uh." He snapped his eyes up and felt himself blush. "Coming from a friends house."

"Oh cool." She smiled. There was a small silence between them before she continues with, "Wanna come in?"

"Won't your parents be angry?"

"Their out at a party." She said. "So are you coming?" Rhys looked over his shoulder at his house. He hadn't exactly told his mother that he left and he was already out so…

"Why not." He answered. He entered the house and followed her up the stairs. He heard loud music coming from behind a closed door.

"That's my sister, Becky's room." Vylette said before Rhys could even ask.

"Won't she tell if she sees me here?"

"Only if she wants me to tell who's in her room." She said leading him into her room. The white walls were covered in homemade posters and drawings. Her full sized bed was covered by a think velvety black blanket and she had a short bookcase filled with books, But what stood out the most was the tall glass case the corner. It was filled with creepy looking dolls. They reminded Rhys of living dead dolls (Jenna's sister Carla was obsessed with them and had every set of the dolls) but none of these looked familiar.

"You like 'em." Vylette said leading him over to the case. "I made all of them." She said proudly.

"Wow. Their great. They look professionally made or something."

Vylette opened the case and took down the only doll that was located on the very top shelf and hugged it. "OMG This one's my fav. Her name's Sweetpea." Sweetpea had pink curly pigtails and her bangs hung in front of her big green eyes. She wore a lacey black tutu with pink and black tights and black Mary Jane's. Unlike the other dolls Sweetpea's features were soft and welcoming. "I made her when I was thirteen." She sighed then placed Sweetpea back on her shelf, her hands lingered loving for a second before she closed the case.

She yawned and went and flopped flat on her back onto her bed. Rhys stood there awkwardly. This was his first time in a girls room that didn't belong to Jenna or Carla. "Come on." She smiled as she propped her self up on her elbows. "I won't bite." He nervously laid next to her at the foot of the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Cool." He said when he saw the red spots that's blotted the white ceiling like dull stars.

"It's not paint." Vylette mumbled.

"What?" Rhys noticed that all the color had left her freckled cheeks.

"It's not paint." She said then rolled over onto her side away. Rhys struggled with what to say next.

"What is it then?"

"You'd think I was crazy." She mumbled. But with the things that had been happening to him he was ready to believe anything. He rolled over facing her back.

She rolled over and looked him square in the eyes. "Really?" Though it made him quite uncomfortable, he didn't look away. "Scouts honor."

"I see thinks." She said. "Like in my head."

"You mean like a psychic?" He asked. She nodded as her eyes weld up with tears.

"And in my vision of a boy sleeping, then suddenly getting sucked down into his bed and his blood covering the ceiling." Tears began to stream from her eyes. Rhys didn't know why, perhaps he felt obligated or maybe he just wanted to touch her, but he pulled her closed and held her. And before he knew it she was a asleep, but her bed was comfy and she was so warm so he stayed like that.

As he lay there enjoying the fruity smell over her hair he felt shift on the bed. He looked up to see a dark haired guy with a portable TV and headphones asleep on the bed. But before Rhys could say or do anything he say something pull the boy down into the bed and a geyser of blood shoot up from the hole.

"OMG! Rhys. Rhys." Vylette shook Rhys until he woke up. "Rhys my parents just got. You better go." Rhys got up and head for the window and began to climb out. "Wait!" Vylette said rushing over to him. "I just wanted to give you this." She said, then innocently gave him a kiss on the cheek.

THREE WEEKS LATER

Spring was upon Springwood; melting the snow, warming the air, and bringing flowers into bloom. And as this season began, so did Rhys' plan to stop the nightmares. He would split his Hypnocil with Shrimp, Jenna, and Adrian then he would take half a pill sleep for a few hours at Vylette's, (who was not only his girlfriend now but was more than willing to wake him if he even whimpered though he hadn't told her about Freddy) just in case of a nightmare. Rhys hadn't had a nightmare yet, but what he did dream was worst.

He dreamt of other peoples nightmares and watched them die. He watched a boy drown in his water bed, a girl get her head smashed into a TV, another guy literally ripped to shreds, and many, many more. And on more than one occasion Freddy, who had been present in all these nightmares, would acknowledge that he was there with a wink or a comment.

Rhys was sitting in the living room playing ULTRAVIOLENCE II: CHAOS REGIEME and waiting for his mom to come back with his refill of Hypnocil. As soon as the door opened he looked up. Only to see Jacob standing there.

"Hey there pal. Your moms getting something out of the car." Jacob smiled. "Wanna join me and your mom for movie night?" He held up a Blockbuster bag.

"No thanks." Rhys hated Jacob. He didn't trust him. Except for his father, Rhys didn't think that his mom had the best taste in guys.

"Look who I found!" His mom said cheerful leading Vylette into the house.

"Vy." Rhys smiled as that cozy feeling rose from the pit of his stomach like it always did for her. He got up and hugged her.

"So _this_ is Vylette." Jacob smiled looking Vylette over. "Nice choice Reese boy." Rhys tensed up a little. He didn't like the way that Jacob talked to him like he was 12. Or the way he looked at Vylette.

"Mom, a word?" Rhys asked. She nodded and the headed into the kitchen where they sat down and began their hushed conversation.

"What's wrong?"

"You should break up with Jacob."

"What?"

"Come on mom. He's a total douche bag who's gonna break your heart like all the others."

"Oh stop it Rhys. Listen I know that this is strange and difficult time in your life. But I'm human. And humans have needs and-"

"Mom. Please. Ew."

"Now you listen to me, Rhys Azrael Durden. I am a grown woman and I don't need my child to approve my relationships. Here's your Hypnocil." She tossed his prescription on the table and walked back towards the living room. A few seconds later Vylette appeared at the door.

"You okay?"

"Just peachy."

"Well you don't have to get all snippy." She said sitting across from him.

"Sorry. I just want the best for my mom you know."

"Aw it's ok." Vylette smiled and gently caressed his face. As she did Rhys noticed some thing on her arm peeking out from her glittery 'Gossip Gangster' t-shirt.

"What's wrong with your arm?"

"Nothing." She hastily said, quickly pulling her arm away. He grabbed her arm a pushed up the sleeve revealing four cuts. The cuts weren't deep and could easily be mistaken for cat scratches.

"Vy what happened? Vylette?"

"Freddy happened."

"How do you know about Freddy?"

"You talk in you sleep." Rhys felt like punch himself in the face.

"Listen Vylette. Take these pills over to Jenna's. But be sure to keep a few for yourself." He handed her the Hypnocil.

"What about you? What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna go have a little chat with our new friend Freddy."

--

Aurthors Note: How suspenseful. lol. Thanks for reading and I hope you like it! :D


	8. Chapter 8

8.

"Are you F'n INSANE?!" Jenna, who had ran from her house, exclaimed. Rhys glared at Vylette who was sitting next to him on the bed.

"What?" She said nervously tracing the scars on her arm. "I had to call her. I thought you might, you know, listen to her."

"I've got to do this. I started this whole nightmare thing with you guys and I've got to end it." He said getting up. "Especially after his attack on Vylette." Jenna's eyes lit up with anger.

"Rhys, a word in private?" She glared.

"Sure." He looked at Vylette and she went into the hall, closing the door behind her.

"I don't believe you!" Jenna said.

"What?"

"I have a nightmare, get three cracked ribs, and you barely bat an eyelash. Cindy Lauper out there has a nightmare, gets a freakin cat scratch, and suddenly your f'ing Batman out to save the day."

"I'm doing this for all of us Jen."

"No your doing this to impress her."

"Are you jealous of Vy or something? Huh? Jealous that I've actually made a deep connection with some other than you."

Her face began to redden as if she'd been caught, the she finally said: "Screw you." and she stormed out of Rhys' room, slamming the door behind her. Rhys flopped down on his bed as Vylette inched cautiously back into the room.

"Jenna took the pills."

"That's ok." Rhys reached into his night stand and pulled out the Hypnocil that usually kept for himself. "Here."

"You shouldn't try to face him alone."

"I know."

"Well I think he feeds on fear. Because in my dream he sorta jumped out at me and that's what scared me not him." She ran her fingers across the scars. "These seemed much deeper in the dream."

"Listen, Vylette." He took her hand. "I want you to go home take that pill and wait for me. Okay?"

"Okay." She said then gently kissed him on the lips and hugged him. "See you in the morning." She kissed him again, on the forehead this time and Rhys walked her to the door. Then he slipped past the living room where Jacob and his mother were watching some romantic comedy. The sound of Jacobs deep laugh made Rhys cringe as he crept back up the stairs.

He locked his bedroom door, laid across his bed, and stared at the ceiling, waiting. Waiting for a plan to formulate, a revelation, an ingenious ace in the hole to use against Freddy. But all he got was the soft buzz of crickets and the soft hum of his desk lamp. He leaned over and turned off his lamp and pulled his blanket over him. As he lay under the warm covers surround by darkness he unconsciously began to softly hum the eerily lullaby (which had been buzzing in the back of his mind since the very since he'd heard it) and slowly drifted to sleep.

Suddenly the smell of burning flesh invaded his nose and opened his eyes. The room was dark except for a few dull stray strands of light that bleed into the room from the from between the cracks of the boarded up window. Rhys followed the smell out the door. The house was dark but he could tell that it was abandoned again. He headed down the stairs trying to trip over the scattered toys or fall through the rotting wooden stairs. As he walked into the living room the thick silence was unexpectedly cut short by the muffled sound of music.

The music came from beneath Rhys' bare feet. It was smooth and jazzy and sounded very much like big band swing music. Rhys walked into the kitchen cautiously. The sharp sound of metal grating against metal over the music made him jump halfway out of his skin. He hurried over to the counter and rummaged through drawer after drawer for a weapon but found nothing. Not a knife or a fork or even a spoon! He slammed the final drawer and braced himself against the counter until he heard the almost silent click of a door knob and looked up to see basement door slowly creaking open. He walked over to it and stared down into the dark basement. The music floated up the stairs and pulled him down the stairs.

Rhys looked around the dusty basement to find the source of the music. It seemed to come from a door behind the staircase. Rhys carefully approached the door, watching shadows to dance through the pale yellow light that poured out from under the door. He slowly pushed the door open and his eyes widened. News paper clippings and pictures of kids plastered the walls, jars filled with bizarre looking things lined the back wall, and perched up on along a shelf like trophies, were different grizzly gloves(much like the one that Freddy wore).

Rhys walked over to the desk located under the shelf with the jars and clicked off the radio. His eyes lowered to the pictures that were scattered across the desk. The photos gave Rhys and eerie feeling and when he finally realized why his blood ran cold. The occupants of the pictures were the childhood versions of the current teens at Springwood High. He gasped when he saw the picture just left of the old radio. It was the picture of his smaller kid self perched upon his father broad shoulders and around his smiling cherub like face was a red bulls eyes.

As he picked up the picture the sound of swing music cut through the air again, this time from outside the tiny hidden room door. He turned and headed towards the door watching shadow after shadow dance past the slim crack in the partially opened door. Rhys snatched open the doors but instead of the basement he saw a speak easy type bar. Everything seemed grainy and in black and white like an old 40's movie.

A dark haired kid dressed in a tux sang a Sinatra like song with three sultry looking women in sleek black dresses sang the only color emanating from them were their candy apple red lips. Rhys walked through the dream crowd(most of whom had gaping gashes and slashes that dripped red all over their fine suits and beautiful dresses.) and towards the back.

"Hey there kiddo." A familiar rasp croaked. Rhys' head snapped right and saw a zoot suit clad Freddy sitting with at the V.I.P. table with a cigar and a black drink in hand. Without a another word or thought Rhys grabbed Freddy by the collar and wrenched the disfigured man from his seat up to eye level.

"What do you want from me Kruger?!"

Freddy whose smile had not faded and whose pale green eyes still shimmered from under the shadow of his black pinstripe fedora. "Calm down and I'll tell you kid." Then he cocked his head and placed his gloved hand on Rhys' shoulder. This doesn't have to get messy…does it?"

Rhys let Freddy go and the both took a seat. Freddy snapped his fingers and a dead eyed blond waitress named Tina came smiling there way and placed a black drink down in front of them. And after taking a long drag of his cigar he said, "I've got a deal for you my boy."

"I don't make deals with psychopaths, Kruger."

"Trust me you want this deal kiddo." He sipped his drink and continued. "I want you to be my apprentice."

"Your out of your f'n mind."

"And you're an expert in that aren't you junior." Rhys' words got jammed in his throat.

"You don't know a damn thing about me."

"I know everything about you kiddo…I know it because I was you." His smile turned into a sneer. "Your the kid that everyone says will amount to nothing. The kid ignored by damn everyone. You're the kid that was abandoned by his mother."

"She didn't abandon me!"

"Then why'd she push you aside for her boy toy." Rhys couldn't find an answer. "I'm offering you power. I'm offering a chance at revenge. Hell," Freddy laughed. "I'm offering you the world." The long legged back up singers from the stage joined Freddy(one to his left, one to his right, and one behind him). Freddy snapped his fingers again and Tina brought another drink. This one for Rhys. "So what do you say my boy?" Freddy held up his drink. "Deal?"

Rhys' mind raced until it hit an answer. Rhys stood up and through the drink in Freddy's face then grabbed the bottled full of the black liquid from Tina and downed the whole thing. And as the fiery sweet tasting liquor seeped into his tongue he simply said … "Deal!"


End file.
